IAS officer Durga deserves stiffer punishment: SP leaders

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday defended the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, saying action was taken against her for demolishing the wall of a mosque without consulting seniors and not for preventing illegal sand mining.

“Her suspension has nothing to do with the action against mining mafia. The state government has not intervened to check officers acting against the mafia. Poor villagers had contributed funds to construct the place of worship. The officers should work in a responsible manner while acting in such cases,” he said.

“I have come to know that DM in his report claimed Nagpal did not demolish any religious building wall, which is untrue and not based on facts,” Bhati, chairperson of the UP State Agro Industrial Corporation Limited, said on Thursday.

“The UP government has appointed a probe committee to look into DM’s report. The committee will go to Kadalpur village to gather facts and verify the DM’s report.” Read more

Nagpal, 28, the sub-divisional magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar district, was suspended on July 27 after demolition of the mosque wall at Kadalpur village in Greater Noida.

Just months into her assignment, the 2010-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer had lodged two dozen FIRs against the sand mafia and arrested more than a dozen people to curb illegal mining in the district, especially along the Yamuna and Hindon rivers. (Read: SP leader Shivpal Yadav backs Akhilesh action against SDM Durga)

Supporters of the Bhagat Singh Sena take out a Mashal March against the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

On the IAS association’s demand, Yadav said his government was open to listening to views, but wondered why the bureaucrats’ body had remained silent during the previous government’s (Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati’s) tenure.

He referred to the death of an IAS officer during the Mayawati government’s tenure and said it was yet to be ascertained whether the officer was murdered or committed suicide.

“It is our (Samajwadi Party) government which encouraged the IAS association, which had become defunct in the recent past,” he said.

On Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate Ravikant Singh’s report indicating Nagpal had no role in demolishing the mosque wall, the CM said, “The DM’s report needs to be probed.”

He did not reveal the contents of the report, but said the DM was equally responsible for maintaining communal harmony.

Asked about the opposition’s allegations that Nagpal was punished for preventing illegal mining, Yadav said such charges were often levelled against the party in power.

He said the media should check the details, including local intelligence unit reports, before accusing the government of shielding people indulging in illegal mining.

“You look into the record of past two-three months, we ourselves do not want anything wrong to happen to any officer,” the CM added.